Explicit multi-model predictive control of a waste heat Rankine based system for heavy duty trucks

This paper presents an explicit multi-model predictive controller (MMPC) for a waste heat recovery system (WHRS) mounted on a heavy duty truck engine. WHRS based on the Rankine cycle principle attracts a lot of interest in the heavy duty industry, over the past few years, to decrease the fuel consumption and reach the future pollutant emissions standards. Control issues have still to be faced before the integration of such a system into a vehicle. Model predictive controllers suits really well for our control purpose due to their ability to handle online optimal control problem. This paper focuses on the development of an explicit control law based on MMPC with aim to control the fluid temperature at the inlet of the expansion machine in order to increase the system performance and the reliability.